Symbian Foundation Launches Horizon App Service

The Symbian Foundation has formerly launched its Horizon application development program that includes a new directory service, at the Symbian Exchange and Exposition show in London.

The Horizon program consists of two parts, said Shaun Puckrin, head of community support and developer services at Symbian. The first part, which has been previously announced, is a publisher program that helps developers get their applications out to multiple app stores, reconciles payment from the stores and pays for Symbian Signed verification, among other things.

Puckrin said 50 applications have gone through this part of the program and have been tested on multiple platforms.

However, the new part of the Horizon program is a directory of Symbian applications. Indeed, Puckrin refers to it as a “Yellow Pages of Symbian apps.” The directory will be a listing of all Symbian Signed applications and it will launch in beta on 27 October, he said.

“The directory is about having one place in the world where all Symbian signed apps are,” Puckrin said. “And we’ll be launching this in beta.”

“‘Find new apps’ will take you to the new Symbian Horizon app directory when it launches tomorrow,” wrote Freddie Gjertsen, head of product management at the Symbian Foundation in a blog post on Monday.

The new directory will benefit both developers and consumers of the technology, Puckrin said.